Improvement in preparing vegetable fiber



JEAN BLANO, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARING VEGETABLE. FIBER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 13.636, dated October9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEAN Orleans, in the parish of New Orleans, and inthe State of Louisiana, have discovered certainnew fibrous substancesanda new and useful process of extracting the fiber therefrom; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full and exact descriptionthereof.

The nature of my invention consists in the discovery of certain new anduseful plants containingimportant fibers and textile substances whichcan be used as either cloth, thread, rope, and paper, and anew anduseful process of extracting the fiber from the woody substance of theplant without injuring the fiber as to its strength or beauty. To enableothers skilled in the art to use my discovery, I will proceed todescribe the plants and the process for obtaining the fiber from them,the same process being applicable to all of the herein-named plants:Hibiscus palesm's, cotton-stalk, Malva, Veronica Virginica, wild indigo,Palma Christi, Asclepz'as asmarma, Asclqoias cornuta, Asclepiasincarnate or gigantea, Tuberosa, Asclepias curasszioica, hollyhock,mallow, nettle, Wild cent foi or Luzerne, Althea, black mulberry, whitemulberry, Morus multicaulis, Otaheitan mulberry, yellow willow, manila,0km, passion-flower plant, Lizerim, @nothem serotina, Kentucky orordinary hemp, ordinary flax, sugar-cane, and grapevine.

In my process I cut the plants in August or September close to theground and sinka pit in the field where the plants grow from six inchesto two feet deep, throwing the earth outside, forming an embankmentaroundthe pit. I then commence in the center of the pit and set theplants in a perpendicular position with their butts downward, (and assoon as the plants are out, before they have time to die, and while theyare still green and alive,) and continue to set up around the same,keeping them as nearly perpendicular as I can, and pressing them closelytogetheruntil I have filled the pit with the plants or the sprouts ofthe trees, which I cut when young and tender. I then commence coveringthe sides of the same with leaves or straw, so as to surround itperfectly. Then I commence throwing the earth against the sides on theleares orst-raw, making it several inches thick, until the whole isincased in a wall of earth as high as the tops of the plants, leavingthe top of the stack or pile uncovered. The reason for my doing so isthat by excluding the surrounding our- BLANG, of New rent of theatmosphere and the heat of the sun from the plants I cause the gascontained in the natural state of the plants to be cvolvedor cast off bydegrees or slowly, and as it is carried ofl at the top of the plants themoisture of the earth rises up and through the plants and destroys theglutinous particles thereof, and causes the fiber to separate from thewoody substance, preserving its strength and elasticity and changing thecolor to a light yellow. After I have prepared my pitor stack,

which may be of any size that thequant-ity to preserve may indicate, 1let it remain in this state from eight to fifteen days, when generallythe process will he sufiicicnt. This may be known by taking from thestack at difi'erent points and trying it. it the barkwill separateeasily from the woody substance and a slight mouldy appearance isvisible, then it is time to break up the pit and spread it on the groundto dry. When the plant is dry, which will be in from live to ten days,the woody portion is separated by passing the plants through anyordinary roller or heaters or by horses treading on them. By thisprocess I get the fiber from the wood and have all its strength andelasticity preserved,aml am now enabled to manage it without having suchgreat quantities to handle. Several of the fibers of the finestqualities will be perfectly prepared by this process formunufacturii-ig. The coarser fibers can he water-rotted for afewfdays-say six,to'eight-when they can be fitted for marketormauut'acturing by the con-1- mon process of breaking, scutching, andhackling common to flax or hemp.

I do not claim burying the plants in either wet sand or mud, asdescribed in the India process found in the agricultural reports of thePatent Office for 1854, page 174; nor do I claim simply setting theplants on end with the butts down, as described in the SouthernCultivator.

Having thus fully described the nature of my discovery and process,whatlclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The stacking of the plants butts down in a pit dug for said purpose andsurrounding them with dry leaves or straw, with earth thrown around thesame, thereby iuclosing them entirely on all sides, leaving the top openand uncovered, as fully set forth herein.

JEAN IBLANC. Witnesses:

'1. G. CLAYTON, J. G. CLAYTON.

